2 people arrested in connection to child sex abuse investigation, police say

HOUSTON – Galveston police said two people have been arrested in connection with a child sex abuse investigation, including a Galveston Independent School District police officer.

Juan Carlos Pineda, 42, is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. Police said the alleged incidents took place between 2009 and 2017 and were reported to police last October.

Leisdy Arana, 37, is accused of the failure to make required child abuse report with intent to conceal, police said. Arana said Juan is her husband. Arana is also a Galveston ISD police officer, the district confirmed.

“If someone suspects child abuse, the law requires you to actively report it within 48 hours of finding out about it,” said Houston criminal defense attorney Cordt Akers. “There are certain circumstances where if you are, if you hold some sort of professional license issued by the state and that license requires or shows that you’re going to be around children on a regular basis, then the types of things that you have to report and the duties of reporting that you have are going to be a lot wider than if it was just you or I.”

According to court documents, the alleged abuse started when the victim was approximately 5-6 years old and continued until the victim was approximately 14.

“You’re going to have to talk to the lawyers,” Arana said outside Pineda’s listed address on Wednesday. “I’m not going to talk to anybody.”

A spokesman for Galveston ISD said that Arana was immediately placed on administrative leave pending the outcome from the investigative agency as soon as the allegations came forward. The school district also said the allegations are unrelated to her job duties with Galveston ISD.

Court records said that Pineda denied the allegations.

Police said Pineda’s bond was set at $250,000 and he is currently behind bars.